To start afresh at any level, a change is what the experts recommend, or as many would say, a revolution of some kind to reform a decadent or a stagnant society and provide it with a new perception that could set a new direction.

By experience we have learned that such a change does work for the better most of the time, if not always.

History is replete with such events when constructive changes not only rescued dying cultures but also plummeting political systems to transform a decaying and a declining society.

Examples are always there to be seen and take inspiration from. The French revolution, the industrial revolution in Europe or the Bolshevik uprising in Russia in the early nineteenth century, or for that matter rebellions in South America and rapid resurgence of the Chinese in recent times completely transformed the scenario in the respective regions.

Sports, too, have gone through similar transformation at all levels, be it the Olympics or sports such as football, hockey, golf, tennis, athletics, swimming and cricket. These sports have all had their full share of changes and have come a long way since the time of their inception.

The laws governing these sports, the fan following of a different kind and the tremendous amount of money involved today in terms of sponsorship, advertising and TV rights makes you wonder where would it all end.

From the fifties till almost the end of seventies, it was unthinkable where cricket would be going until the Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer revolution changed the entire shape and dynamics of the game for everyone involved.

Before Packer’s arrival on the scene, cricket was clearly struggling to maintain its popularity and appeal. There was hardly any money in it for the organisers or the players and was rather in a poor state.

Packer injected a new spirit into the game and revolutionised the ways it was contested. All this what we see now - the ODIs, the T20 cricket, floodlit games with white and pink ball, black screens, coloured clothing and an exorbitant amount of moolah being dished out to stage a league or a tournament is owing to Mr Packer’s revolution.

Packer had come into cricket after he was denied rights by the Australian Cricket Board in 1977 to air Test matches on his Channel 9 TV despite making a considerably higher bid to what ABC, the terrestrial channel, had offered.

In retaliation, he secretly signed all the great players of the time in 1977 including the some of the leading Pakistanis, the West Indians, the English, Sri Lankans and the Australians to play in his World Series Cricket (WSC) in Australia, offering them huge sums of money which led to a court case in London as Packer sued the MCC and ICC for not allowing some of the English players to join his venture.

Taken as a rebel and a revolutionary, he got the flak from every direction but he won the case in the London High Court to keep his mission going till the cricket authorities realised the truth and succumbed to him. He was soon given the TV rights by ACB after which he disbanded his WSC.

His brilliantly put together ‘Packer Circus’, however, gave a new lease of life to cricket in such a way, that now the modern day game is reaping rich harvest from it.

Pakistan’s own PSL, now in its third edition, has also come up as result of that and has gained in success with each passing year. For that the credit needs to be given to those at the PCB for their consistency and determination that they have shown to continue with it despite the hiccups that came their way.

Najam Sethi, the current PCB chairman, having weathered the storm and criticism of every kind, has shown resilience to get the show going for the betterment of the game in a country which for security reasons have been in isolation since the last nine years following a ghastly terrorist attack on the visiting Sri Lankans.

I suppose credit needs to be given where it is due and Pakistan, in face of adversity, has given its population something to cheer about through PSL. The popular league, though currently being played in the UAE, would soon become a feature of the game in the home calendar if things keep going in the right direction.

And this I see as a change for the better.

Therefore, let us support the Pakistan Super League in a big way and remain hopeful that this will bring the game back in our own backyard very soon.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2018